Identifying and Screening the Resistance of Chestnut Cultivars against Chestnut Blight Fungus in Hubei Province

31 chestnut cultivars(Castanea mollissima) from Hubei province were inoculated with chestnut blight fungus, Cry- phonectria parasitica in winter and summer in vitro. The resistance of the cultivars against chestnut blight fungus was compre- hensively evaluated based on the latent period. The infection rate and diameter of the spots were measured after 20 days. Re- sistant cultivars were screened. The results showed that 5 cultivars including ‘Hongmaozao', ‘Zhongchili', ‘ELi No.1', ‘Luo- tianqianci' and ‘Hongguangyouli' were highly resistant. 8 cultivars including ‘Xuanhuahong', ‘Luotianwukeli', ‘Yaozili', ‘Daguozhongchili',‘Jinyou No.3',‘Mupu No.1',‘Jingshanqianchi' and ‘Qingmaozao' were resistant. The resistance of the chest- nut cultivars to chestnut blight fungus in summer was higher than that in winter.